


Resurgam

by DaydreamingofDragons



Series: Ad Astra Per Aspera [1]
Category: Supernatural
Genre: Alternate Universe, Angst, Flashbacks, Graphic Injury, Hurt/Comfort, M/M, Platonic Cuddling, Sci-Fi AU, Swearing
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2015-08-19
Updated: 2015-08-19
Packaged: 2018-04-15 14:21:13
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,576
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/4609980
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/DaydreamingofDragons/pseuds/DaydreamingofDragons
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Sci-Fi AU</p>
<p>In which Dean is recently dead and Gabriel is recently nearly dead. Sam is missing and everything is different but too much the same. And it's been a very long two years but perhaps it will be okay in the end.</p>
<p>(SPN/Mass Effect fusion that requires no knowledge of Mass Effect)</p>
            </blockquote>





	Resurgam

**Author's Note:**

> I have no idea if I will ever do anything else with this series, but the idea popped into my head once and I ended up writing two little bits for it. At the moment it's no more complicated than the SPN characters in the Mass Effect universe. People who don't know Mass Effect at all promise me it's perfectly understandable. But if you do know it, you may get a laugh out of whose role Gabriel ended up in and the significant thing I only remembered after the fact.

 Gabriel hadn't bothered to lock his door. After his escape from the medbay, with Doctor Tran's protests echoing around the ship, Dean had expected him to have locked himself away. Dean had come prepared to hack the lock. Or, in the event of Gabriel having learnt a few new tricks in the past two years, to make the damn AI those bastards had dared to install in his Baby do it. _Except this isn't her. You both died together._ He shook off the memory of explosions and his last sight of his broken ship. Reminded himself that the familiarity was a lie and a trap, and walked through the door that had opened at his touch to find the only person who might not be part of it.

 

Gabriel lay on the bunk with his back to the room, curled up under a blanket. The other man- Dean could never think of Gabriel as non-human, even knowing the truth- was shivering, despite the warmth of the room. Dean swallowed hard. He raised his free hand and rapped on the wall. “Hey, Sunshine, rise and shine!” And fuck, he'd meant that to come out light and jokey, not choked and gentle.

 

Gabriel groaned but didn't move. “Fuck off,” he muttered, muffled by blankets and bandages.

 

“Hey, come on, dude,” Dean replied without bothering to disguise the softness in his voice. “Gabe. I got you meds.”

 

Gabriel rolled over with an effort and cracked an eyelid. Dean waggled the pills and water he held, making eye-contact and resolutely not staring at the bandaging covering the right side of Gabriel's face. He didn't like to think of the cybernetics holding Gabriel's jaw together underneath. He had seen the ruin it had been before surgery.

 

“Gimme,” Gabriel's imperious command startled Dean back to reality. Dean crossed to the bunk as Gabriel labouriously heaved himself up into one elbow. He flicked the lid off the pills, tipped two out onto Gabriel's waiting palm, then handed over the water. Gabriel swallowed and winced. “Why the fuck's the doc giving me tablets with half my face missing? Run outta needles? Fucking hurts.”

 

Dean shrugged. “Dunno, man. Maybe she doesn't trust me to stick you in the right place?” He'd wondered that himself, but the only answer he'd got was 'you know how to handle him'. Definitely true once. But Dean wasn't at all sure anymore. It has clearly been a long two years, for everyone but Dean. He was still having trouble convincing himself it was two years and not two months. Honestly, if Gabriel had turned to him with his usual shit-eating grin and a 'gotcha' on his lips, he wouldn't have been at all surprised. Except, the lines of Gabriel's face and the darkness in his eyes showed that he found no humour in the situation. A very long two years.

 

A wicked grin quirked Gabriel's lips for a second, before he winced again and it fell away. “Aww, don't sell yourself short, Deano. I'm sure you know just where to stick it.”

 

The joke was pathetic, nothing like Gabriel's normal cutting sharpness. Dean barked a laugh out of pure relief. It was the first bit of humour he'd heard from Gabriel since meeting him again. If Gabriel was willing to make the effort, then Dean could damn well return the favour. “Yeah, whatever.”

 

With a grunt, Gabriel rolled over onto his back, staring blankly at the ceiling. Dean hovered awkwardly, unwilling to go and leave Gabriel alone, even if he had no idea if he was welcome. Gabriel was still shaking, he noted uncomfortably. Gabriel's eyes slid closed and Dean shuddered, remembering all too well them doing the same thing almost forty-eight hour earlier. When they'd finally taken down that damned gunship (on foot, and that shouldn't have been possible, but he had fucking done it, somehow). When he'd had the chance to scramble across to Gabriel, who had taken the first hit (every effort Dean had made to get to him before had been blocked by a hail of bullets or another fucking missile). Thinking _dead, he must be dead, fuck, no-one survives that_ , to find Gabriel somehow still breathing, dragging in ragged gasps of air, his right cheek and a jaw a mess of blood and, _oh fuck_ , bone. His eyes still open and fixing desperately on Dean as he leaned over him, already yelling into his comm for an evac _yesterday_ . Then those startling eyes had slipped closed and Dean was grabbing his left arm, instinctively avoiding his right side because, even if his armour had taken most of the damage, he _had_ to be hurt there, and screaming, “Gabriel! Gabe, don't you fucking dare. Open your eyes, you bastard! Don't you _dare_ leave me.”

 

“'M sorry.” The slow slur of Gabriel's voice startled Dean back to the present, sweating and breathing hard. Damn, but he needed to sleep, just sleep for a few hours without his fucking brain spinning him imaginary scenarios based on images that were in no way imaginary. He thought he was going to see Gabriel die a lot, the next few nights.

 

“Huh?” he responded intelligently, half-sure Gabriel was only talking in his sleep.

 

“Sorry,” Gabriel repeated. “'Bout Sammy. Sorry I lost him. I couldn't...” he trailed off.

 

Dean took a shuddering breath. He was too fucking tired to have this conversation. He should shush Gabriel, because talking had to be hurting him like hell and he was probably too drugged to even know what he as saying. Should tell him they'd talk later and then never, ever, mention it again.

 

Instead of leaving, Dean slid to the floor and leaned back against Gabriel's bunk. He couldn't answer. Couldn't reply. Because he had died. He had fucking _died_. Alone and in pain and so afraid. And the only reason he had been even halfway okay with it, with his final gasps for air he just didn't have, was because Sam wasn't there. Sam wasn't there and Gabriel wasn't there and they would both live and Gabriel loved Dean's little brother, even if he would never say it. But Gabriel would look after Sammy and they would be alright without Dean.

 

Gabriel was talking again. “'M sorry. Tried, Dean. I did. D'you know? What Sammy's like without you? He just...” A long silence, until Dean thought he had fallen asleep, then, “Just falls apart.” Dean swallowed hard. He knew how attached his brother got to people. Had seen him after Jessica... He could imagine. He didn't want to, but he could. “Shoulda tried harder. Not let him go. Sorry.”

 

Dean dragged in a choked breath, abruptly unable to stand another apology, not wanting to see Gabriel this vulnerable anymore. He knew he had been angry, furious, when he'd heard Sammy had disappeared. Had hated Gabriel for proving unreliable, just when Dean had dared to trust him. He could remember, in the middle of that desperate firefight, trying to figure out how the hell to being down a damn gunship, considering running, pulling out and abandoning Gabriel, lying there already dead or only dying. Because _he didn't take care of Sammy, damn him_. Dean could remember, but, sitting there listening to Gabriel's heavy breathing, he couldn't feel any of it anymore. “It's okay,” he muttered, then repeated himself louder, making sure Gabriel heard. “It's okay. Sammy's a big boy. He can take care of himself for a bit. But we'll find him.” Dean tried to laugh. “Tell him to take better care of you, too. 'Cos, dammit Gabe, that was one helluva a scrape I found you in.”

 

Gabriel made a soft noise Dean couldn't interpret. “Yeah,” he whispered. Then, more loudly, “Yeah, we'll find him.”

 

“Course we will,” Dean repeated firmly. He let his head fall back, a tired but genuine smile on his face. Gabriel was on his side. Their meeting had been pure chance. Gabriel wasn't part of the giant manipulation Dean found himself caught in. Dean had an ally.

 

“'M tired,” slurred Gabriel, yawning and setting Dean off too.

 

“The hell are you tired for?” Dean asked. “You spent most of the last two days unconscious.”

 

“Screw you, Winchester,” Gabriel managed through another yawn. “Being blown up's tiring.”

 

Dean snorted a laugh. “Yeah, well, so's fighting a damn gunship, as it happens.” _Not to mention pacing while I wait to find out if you're gonna live_. He made a decision. “Hey, move over.” Gabriel made a 'what the fuck' sort of noise. “Someone's gotta make sure you don't kick the bucket in the night,” Dean explained, dragging himself to his feet. Gabriel grumbled, but rolled over again, leaving his back to Dean and room for him to crawl in behind him.

 

Dean went and engaged the door lock. He hesitated. “AI? This door stays locked unless it's an emergency, you hear me?”

 

“Yes, Commander,” the bland female voice answered. Dean didn't know if he believed it, but he supposed it would have to do.

 

He kicked off his shoes, threw back the covers and laid down behind Gabriel. He was still shaking, Dean could feel it. Cautiously, expecting to be rebuffed and not wanting to hurt him, Dean wriggled closer and wrapped an arm around him. There was no reaction at first, but gradually Dean felt Gabriel relax back against him, his trembling easing and his breathing less laboured. Dean smiled into Gabriel's hair and finally let himself relax too.

**Author's Note:**

> Translations for the titles
> 
> Resurgam: I shall rise again  
> Ad Astra Per Aspera: Through hardship to the stars


End file.
